He wanted to start his own security agency but faced one very big barrier.

He is a security officer!

Security officers are accustomed to telling people what to do. They have the upper hand in most interactions. They are not used to asking for things, facing rejection and not being in control.

As badly as this officer wanted to start his own agency he couldn't easily bring himself to make those cold calls and face the failure which inevitably follows.

I suspect this mindset traps many security officers. Perhaps it is the reason for why you have yet to start your own security agency or maybe this explains why your security agency hasn't been successful at signing up enough clients to pay the bills.

Many security officers possess most everything needed to start their own company. They have a strong familiarity with local licensing laws, a great work ethic, and years of security experience.

They also hate working for the big security companies; a prerequisite for the entrepreneurial security professional who needs the drive to branch out on his own. These officers know first hand how big corporate security results in a one-size-fits all security approach which crushes innovative security ideas. They badly want to get away from this environment.

There are two primary barriers which prevent these individuals from starting their own agencies; the lack of money necessary to get started and the confidence to approach and solicit business from complete strangers.

In How to Start a Security Guard Company I describe the strategy for starting a new company with a minimal initial investment. It's possible to start with just a few thousand dollars in working capital. However, there isn't much margin for error in this strategy. Without money in reserve the agency owner must immediately solicit and earn the business of new clients. He can't afford to hire a sales team and must make the initial sales himself. Many security officers simply aren't wired to solicit business.

Thus the principal predicament of the officer who sought my advice.

Here's my advice.

It's all about mindset.

The soliciting officer must completely implant two vital concepts into his brain before he makes the first sales call.

First, he must view the sales process as a game. The officer can win the game even though he achieves an incredibly low score. For the purpose of illustrating this point let's assume that only one half of one percent of prospective clients actually sign a contract with the new company. Only one in every 200 solicitations needs to result in success. That's a very low expectation but a practical one. Many target-rich metro areas host hundreds if not thousands of potential security clients.

With this mindset each "failure" seems rather insignificant. The officer may easily deal with failure by reminding himself that a particular rejection is just one of 199 other insignificant rejections which are programmed into the game. This mindset takes the sting out of the rejection.

Second, the officer must think of each sales attempt as a service to the one being solicited. Small security agencies provide a superior product by virtue of their mobility and their personal service is not easily available from the large security corporations.

The agency owner very much helps his potential client by informing him of the agency's services. He isn't begging for business or asking for a favor. He instead offers something of value of which the potential client will be the primary beneficiary. When that person rejects the solicitation he does so at his own peril.

This service-oriented mindset allows the officer to properly view rejection as a liability to the rejector and not the personal rejection of the officer.

With these two concepts firmly implanted in mind, the new officer may go to work rapidly soliciting his initial class of clients without feeling as if he is a failure each time someone tells him "we aren't interested!"

The hardest part is getting started.

Here's a secret.

Too many of the legacy security providers don't aggressively solicit new clients. They have all of the same fears of rejection and have become fat and lazy with their current group of clients and see no need to work hard getting new ones. The aggressive security salesman who can brush off rejection will quickly and effectively take clients from the large corporate legacy providers.

Of course, this advice simply imparts the importance of mindset. There are many unique and innovative strategies which the security agency owner may use. I am currently documenting these ideas. They will be published in my next book entitled "How to Find Clients for Your New Security Business".

What do you think of my advice? Have you developed strategies for acquiring clients? Let me know your thoughts, suggestions and questions.

JW Murphey

Murphey started a private security agency at the age of 19. He enjoys writing articles to assist those in the security industry with the licensing and training process. He can be contacted @JW.Murphey@securityofficerhq.com.

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